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The other side of the EMP threat

Published by Steve on Tue, 04/25/2017 - 15:33

By:

JOAN HART

Last week I addressed the threat of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack against the U.S. electrical power grid. This week I want to give you information from the other side of the issue so you won’t be left out there wondering if any thing is being done to mitigate such a possibility.

For this week, let’s forget about whether the threat might come from North Korea, or China, or Iran, or any other foreign entity, and just consider the issue itself. A major problem in even discussing it is the fact that there is so much false information available and it is difficult to distinguish between the credible reports and what we have come to know as “fake news.”

I have used the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for much of the following information. The EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Its members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, operates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and directly and indirectly employs more than one million workers.

According to EEI information there are three different possibilities with regard to an EMP - a high level EMP caused by the detonation of a nuclear weapon in the atmosphere, a directed energy EMP which is a more narrowly focused EMP threat to a single facility or piece of equipment similar to a traditional physical attack, or a solar flare known as a GMD or geomagnetic disturbance.

For the complete column, see the Wednesday print edition of The Daily Record, or view the e-Editiononline.